Because, for example, out of over 5 questions, I have received 4 correct answers quickly here.

This website is the most active I have ever found, so I want it to last as long as possible and thank the founders. I don't have much money, but I would still give $5 if I could or help in any other way that I can.

Well bless your heart. You can thank the website by sticking around, pitching in where you can with quality questions and answers, and continuing to improve on both. :)
–
Paul CrovellaAug 24 '14 at 20:30

40

To add onto what derp pointed out, you should also start voting up answers you find helpful once you get enough reputation. This is the correct way to thank the users who write these answers.
–
Dave ChenAug 24 '14 at 20:33

I previously started a website where you could post questions and offer a cash reward. No one really cared about the cash. It seems that people just have a built in sense of contribute now and ask later. In other words, pay it forward.
–
JGallardoAug 26 '14 at 22:21

2 Answers
2

Your question is very similar to this one, which was asked earlier this month.

I'll reiterate the general sentiment here:

Upvote questions and answers that help you.

Downvote/flag low quality and useless content.

Continue to post good questions and answers.

Participate in the community.

Participate in the community.

Participate in the community.

The reason why this website (and the network as a whole) works is because there is a core set of active members on the site that helps moderate and continue the flow of good questions and answers of lasting value.

You could, of course, contact Stack Exchange about sponsorship opportunities, but if you really want to ensure that this site continues to function, the best way is to continue to participate in the community. As you gain reputation, you will gain access to privileges that will allow you help us make the site better. By asking and answering questions, you're already helping out, but upvotes and accepts ensure that people continue to help you find information and ensure that you can continue to be an integral part of the community.

The best way to control the direction of the site is to be active here on Meta, as well, where we make key decisions and interact with the people who run this site to help them ensure that it's working in the best way it can for all of us.

Am I the only one who is reminded by Point 4 to 6 to the line "Don't talk about the fight club"? Maybe this site also doesn't really exist and instead is merely a creation of Jon Skeet's mind.
–
dirkkAug 25 '14 at 18:32

1

this site is not in an irreversible, spiraling, apocalyptic downfall. Hey, cool - no dv for that; there is hope ;-) I remember ealier this year I decided that I need rep so I can upvote answers that were better than the accepted one; feels like yesterday..
–
TaWAug 27 '14 at 0:50

3

What about 7. Turn off AdBlock? Doesn't quite feel as good as the others, but pretty practical.
–
jpmc26Aug 27 '14 at 14:29

You can show gratitude and help by identifying duplicate questions. Certain questions, like high-resolution timing on Windows, are asked over and over and over again. Most new simple questions on Stack Overflow are very likely duplicates, but the current incentive structure does not allow them to be closed.

Leave comments on a question as to which it is a duplicate of. Optionally, also indicate why you think it is a duplicate. Later, this very much helps voters when they decide if a question is really a duplicate or not.

For very frequent duplicates (FAQs), propose changes to the corresponding major tag wiki to list the canonical question (by way of suggested edits). This helps in identifying duplicates in the future. For instance, the tag wiki for C# has a section, "FAQs", for this purpose.

Why do you need to leave comments? At 15 reputation, that is enough to flag questions as duplicates, which automatically leaves the comment and puts it into the review queue.
–
Cody GrayAug 25 '14 at 7:39

1

@Cody Gray: I don't know; wouldn't it overload the moderators to use this mechanism on a larger scale?
–
Peter MortensenAug 25 '14 at 7:59

4

Not the diamond moderators. Close flags (for one of the standard closure reasons) go into the close vote queue, viewable by all 10k users. (At least I'm relatively certain that's how it works. The review features have changed a lot over the past several months, and I haven't the time to keep up with all the changes.)
–
Cody GrayAug 25 '14 at 8:04